We understand that some of our customers may be experiencing financial hardship. This means they want to pay what they owe but are unable to do so, or they anticipate being unable to do so in the near future.
For our customers affected by the current bushfire devastation, drought, or flooding, we would like to ensure you are equipped with all you need to manage your circumstances as efficiently as possible.
Our Relationship Managers can all be contacted directly via mobile or email, and are ready to assist you with any questions you may have or action you wish to take.
Financial hardship may be due to a number of other reasons also, including:
- unemployment
- illness
- medical expenses
- relationship breakdown
- reduced income
- business failure
- customer over-commitment
If you are an eligible customer you might be able to apply for financial hardship assistance. To decide on your application, we may request supporting documents from you, including having you complete a new loan application form.
The types of assistance available will depend on your particular financial circumstances, reasons for experiencing financial hardship and future prospect.
Our financial hardship arrangements focus on situations from which you can recover your financial position. In these situations, we may be able to help you by:
- agreeing to interest only payments for a short period;
- extending the term of your loan to reduce your repayments; or
- temporarily postponing or deferring payments.
These arrangements may require you to pay more interest over the loan term.
We encourage you to get in touch with your Relationship Manager at your home branch as soon as possible, to learn what your options are.